The name ‘Zanzibar’ evokes an air of exotic wonder. For thousands of years, this archipelago off the coast of East Africa has been the continent’s gateway to Asia and the Middle East. Over the centuries, great empires such as Sumeria, Persia, Oman, Portugal and Britain either were in contact with, or outright ruled, the island group until independence came in 1963. The following year, Zanzibar merged with Tanganyika on the African mainland to form the modern country of Tanzania. The main island of Zanzibar is Unguja, where two-thirds of the population resides, and the legacies of multiple cultures…